Staffing and Other Changes Coming at the FCC, Carr Says

“The FCC is an expert agency in a very technical, precise subject matter,” Gomez said. “We have some of the most talented staff in, I believe, government, having worked [in] many places,” she said. “We don’t necessarily know what the effect of all of this is going to be, but I have no doubt that we’re going to lose very talented, very expert staff, who are very difficult to recruit.”

Carr noted that he has already launched a DOGE team within the FCC. “My expectation is [Musk's] DOGE team itself will interact with the FCC at some point … in the not-too-distant future,” he said. But Carr didn’t say how many staff had left the agency who were probationary workers or who had taken the “fork-in-the-road offer.”

“As a general matter, we are looking to drive greater efficiencies out of the FCC’s operations,” Carr said. The FCC is reviewing contracts it has with companies and has already made some adjustments and cancellations, he said, without identifying them. “The American people expect and deserve an efficient operation of their government."

On Wednesday, Trump signed another executive order directing agency leaders to justify and publicize government payments and travel expenses and to cut unnecessary contracts. He also ordered agencies to examine the sale of “unnecessary” government real estate and required them to submit near-term personnel evaluations and suggestions for staff cuts to the Office of Personnel Management and the OMB by March 13.

Carr said he welcomes Trump's changes, including an earlier order asserting White House control over executive agencies (see 2502190073).

In recent years, every chair has made some kind of structural change at the agency, he said. “I want to make sure that I understand 100% President Trump’s agenda,” Carr said, adding that the administration has always played a role in FCC decisions, and he expects more “guidance” from Trump. “We are complying, and we’re going to comply entirely” with the White House's directions.

Gomez warned that the top experts at the FCC can easily find jobs that pay more outside the government. Companies are “constantly poaching from the FCC,” she said. “It’s an insult to our staff, the way that they’re being treated."

The FCC is closely tracking FCC v. Consumers' Research, a case scheduled for the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, Carr said. SCOTUS will consider the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating part of the USF program (see 2501090045). Right now USF “is the law of the land,” he said. After SCOTUS hands down a decision, "we’ll take a look at what they decide, we’ll read the decision, and we’ll figure out how to proceed at the FCC."

Section 230

The FCC isn’t working on anything related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Carr said: The FCC has “some interpretative authority” over the provision. He said SCOTUS’ rollback of Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo wouldn’t necessarily lead to courts blocking FCC action on Section 230. “Section 230 is different than other cases that come up under Loper Bright,” he said. “This is something I anticipate the FCC taking a look at.”

Gomez said FCC action on 230 would be “bullying the social media companies to comply with what the White House demands.” Only Congress can amend Section 230, she added.

Carr said he's not involved in Trump’s litigation against CBS over its 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, and media reports have incorrectly “blurred” the FCC’s news distortion proceeding against CBS with Trump’s suit. Carr also said the FCC will run its normal merger review processes on deals such as Skydance’s purchase of Paramount Global. The chairman said he’s open to a proceeding seeking comment on the agency’s public interest standard and ways to “reinvigorate” it: “For a lot of years, the FCC walked away from enforcing that public interest obligation” but now will work to enforce it.

Carr said his enforcement actions against networks are aimed at trying to restore trust in local news. “One thing I'm trying to do is continue to empower those local broadcasters to serve the needs of their local communities.”

Gomez pushed back on Carr’s remarks, calling the news distortion complaint and other proceedings against networks “a clear attack” intended to “instill fear in broadcast stations” and influence network editorial decisions. She said she has heard from some broadcasters that fear of government retribution is causing them to change their reporting practices. “The FCC should help expand access to information, not restrict it.”

“Stoking culture wars is not the FCC’s job,” she added. “Unfortunately, this FCC has been weighing in on issues that go far beyond our core responsibilities.”

Gomez also said it was “very telling” about the administration’s priorities that under Carr, the first thing the FCC did was launch an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Calm Act

The FCC unanimously approved an NPRM seeking comment on enforcement of the agency’s little-used Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (Calm) Act rules. It asks for comment on possible changes to the complaint process and the way the FCC measures volume in commercials. Carr said the issue of loud commercials has been raised with him frequently by neighbors and relatives, and the FCC has seen an uptick in complaints. He encouraged consumers to comment on the proceeding in his statement. “We are interested in hearing from you about any improvements we can make to the FCC’s current rules.”

The item also seeks comment on extending Calm Act requirements to streaming services. The final version of the NPRM was changed from the draft to remove language proposing specific regulations against streaming providers, at Commissioner Geoffrey Starks' request, Starks said. “Addressing commercial loudness regulations must not -- like the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing -- morph into this Commission expanding its authority to cover streamers in other, more substantive areas,” he added. The final NPRM also makes it clear the FCC won’t proceed with such regulations without seeking comment in a subsequent NPRM, Starks said, adding that much of the increase in loudness complaints is against streaming providers.

Robocalls

The commissioners also approved a draft order expanding the reach of the do-not-originate lists and strengthening call-blocking capabilities. Carr said the order “is no silver bullet” to tackling robocalls, but the efforts are a way of “pushing forward on multiple fronts.”

"With scams getting ever more sophisticated, we must make sure law enforcement, policymakers and providers have the tools and flexibility they need to go after the bad guys,” USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter said. “Chairman Carr clearly gets this.”

“I would have hoped that this item would address robotexts, and go further to block robocalls,” Starks said. He said an earlier version of the order on September’s agenda “was ultimately scrapped until today” after Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington opposed it.